


Confessions of a (former) virgin

by FaeryPeopleOfTheFutureDay



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:01:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25215913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaeryPeopleOfTheFutureDay/pseuds/FaeryPeopleOfTheFutureDay
Summary: Zelda lived most of her life on the Martian colony. When granted the opportunity to travel to Earth to study its magnetic field, she finds herself falling for an Earthboy.
Relationships: Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 23





	1. Chapter 1

Zelda grew up in outer space. While she mostly lived in the Mars colony and on ships, she had made a venture down to Earth's moon once. But now she had almost finished her training and was finally getting to see Earth. This was the planet her people had come from, hundreds of years ago. Most of them never got to see it in person. She was only 24, but had been granted this opportunity because of her studies in electromagnetism. Earth's magnetic fields offered the planet protection from the solar wind radiation that her people had to hide from beneath the surface of Mars. She was going to be working with a team to learn more about it and collect some data. Hopefully they might be able to one day replicate it on Mars.

The Journey was long and tiring, but eventually they made it to the surface. The gravity was excruciating, especially after a long journey in space. Nevertheless, Zelda marveled at the way she didn't need a helmet to breathe. It was like she was inside, but the blue sky seemed to stretch on forever. The sun shone so bright, it felt like it could burn her. Animals, birds possibly, made peculiar chirping noises all around. It seemed as if the planet itself was alive.

Her team consisted of other colonists, as well as a handful of Earthlings. One of the Earthlings flashed her a wide smile.

"Nice to meet you!" he waved excitedly. His demeanor and blonde hair reminded her of a golden retriever puppy. "I'm Link."

She waved back, "Zelda," she said cautiously.

The next day, after the colonists had a chance to rest and become more accustomed to the Earth's gravity, teams were formed. Zelda saw that she had been paired with the excited boy from yesterday.

He turned out to be a very interesting young man, she decided. Sometimes he would say things that made absolutely no sense, but he was always so confident in what he said that she believed him. He was so honest, and so kind. He seemed to be of the opinion that you should always be friendly and treat people with respect, even if they don't do the same. He was full of energy and just seemed to carry a power within him when he spoke. He was so incredibly brave, and never afraid to talk about his past or his feelings, no matter how vulnerable it made him. Zelda had never met anyone like him.

Somehow, she could feel herself falling for this strange man. But it wasn't like they could be together. She had to return to her colony in a few months, and he would remain here. That didn't mean that they couldn't make some nice memories though. Once in her life, Zelda had kissed a boy. He was incredibly cute and they had been together a few months. It was a short peck on the lips and afterwards, she broke out into laughter because it felt so weird and she didn't understand why everyone was so obsessed with this. Of course, that kind of reaction makes sense for a small child, her friends told her, but she was 18 at the time. It didn't last much longer with that boy, but she was never sure if that was the reason for it or not. She just didn't understand.

Other children spoke of first crushes and kisses in their single digit years. Her first crush on a boy was 12, on a girl 17. Her first relationship, 18. Her first kiss, also 18. Her first time? She had never had sex with anyone, had never even wanted to. When she was 12 or 13, and first discovering what it meant to like someone, she thought she wanted to kiss them. When she finally did get into a relationship with someone she really liked and someone who liked her back, she was so excited to finally kiss him. But it felt so weird. She was excited to have done it, but she didn't understand why it didn't live up to her expectations. She did discover other things in that relationship, though. Resting her head on his chest, hugging him close. This is probably why children have stuffed animals, to feel the comfort of a hug even while they sleep. She liked holding his hand when hers was cold. She liked introducing him to her friends. She liked having someone who liked her back, after years of watching her friends with their partners.

But she felt like she was still a child, even at 24. But maybe she could have something with this Earthling, gain some experience or something. If he didn't like her, or things didn't work the way she wanted, it wasn't like she needed to see him again, so what did she have to lose?


	2. We were infinite

Zelda really enjoyed spending time with Link. When they weren’t working, he took her swimming in the lake, taught her card games. He was a fun-loving free spirit with too much energy for his own good, but she was also swirling with excitement. Everything on Earth was just so amazing. The plants, the animals. The infinite sky. Swimming in water, she almost felt like she was in space again.   
The two of them, just floating in the lake water, staring up at the sky. She reached out and took his hand. Everything was just so peaceful. They were weightless in the infinite nothingness, anchored only to each other.  
Night walks spent starring at the stars. The constellations were so different from Earth. She asked him about them, but he didn’t really remember many. Her arms felt cold and she shivered.  
“Want me to warm you up?” he asked.  
“Uh, sure.” She smiled as he rubbed his hands very quickly over her arms, creating heat with friction. “Thanks, Link.” They went back inside. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”  
“Good night, Zelda,” he replied, walking away in the direction of his sleeping quarters.  
She was never exactly sure when it happened. They spent so much time together, held hands occasionally. She rested her head on his shoulder as they were playing cards during break time with the group. She felt cold and wrapped his arm around her. She didn’t even think about it. Later when she asked him, he said that was the moment he knew for sure that she liked him.   
It was also the first moment the others noticed something was going on between the two of them.   
“Hold on,” Pipit said to the other card players. Then he turned to Link and Zelda, “when did this happen?”  
“Uh, just now,” Zelda replied, not entirely sure when had crossed the line between just friends and something more. But it was almost as if the others acknowledging it made it official.  
“I’m thirsty. Do you want anything?” Link asked.  
“I’ll just go with you,” Zelda told him, not really wanting to leave his side. They walked away with a chorus of the others teasing. It felt so childish, and she liked it.   
The two of them walked to the other room to get a drink, and he leaned in to kiss her. She was so unprepared. The last time, she had a defined relationship status and months to prepare before discussing the possibility of kissing. Now everything was just happening so suddenly. But hey, this boy that she liked, he wanted to kiss her. And she wasn’t going to miss this opportunity. She moved her lips towards his. She didn’t know what else to do. She tried to just copy what he was doing. He had had multiple relationships in the past, knew all about kissing and sex that she felt like everyone else her age understood. He knew what he was doing, so she just tried to copy him.  
His lips parted, so she parted her lips too. His tongue entered her mouth, all slimy and tongue like. Tongue kissing, this was one of those new things to check off her list of things that she had done. It only took her 24 years, but hey, thing accomplished. It still felt really weird, but she didn’t laugh this time. Her eyes were still wide with shock. Should she have closed them? Probably. He closed his. But hers stayed open so that she could watch and mimic him. He pulled away and smiled at her. She smiled back, eyes still wide.  
Another boy walked in.   
“Hi Beedle,” Link greeted his friend warmly, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just take place. “Nice bandanna.”  
He never seemed to stop being kind and welcoming. It was like he was aggressively nice.  
Zelda’s head was still spinning, but as she walked back, she couldn’t stop her own smile from flooding her face. He had kissed her. Link had kissed her! He liked her! And she had finally kissed someone with tongue. No matter how weird that felt, that was an accomplishment.


	3. A Childish Romance

Link was smart, maybe not as smart as her, but he could still compute complex physics equations. She liked brainstorming with him. Checking each other’s calculations was part of the job, but it felt like their brains were operating on the same wavelength, like they could communicate without the need for words.

Some of the work was project oriented, but a large majority was lecture based. Link hated lectures. He could never pay attention and instead doodled comical space weather related drawings, like the Earth’s magnetosphere as the Spiderman logo. When Zelda saw the sun riding a bicycle with the caption “Solar Cycle,” she had to keep herself from laughing out loud.

Word of a budding relationship soon got around to the others. When Zelda went back to her sleeping quarters, her roommate Karane was waiting for her. 

“So, when did this happen?” Karane asked.

“You were there.” Zelda replied, her head still spinning at the thought of everything that had happened. With an undeniable smile, she proudly announced, “but he also kissed me afterwards.”

“So, are you two together then? Like, what are you planning to do?”

“I don’t know,” Zelda replied honestly. “I guess we’re together. We probably won’t be after I have to leave. And I don’t know. Just have some fun, I guess. But I don’t think I want to sleep with him or anything,” she added hastily, aware that that was often what people meant by ‘have some fun.’

“You should be sure to tell him that then,” Karane advised.

Whenever she saw Link, he smiled and doted on her, always following her around and wanting to hold her hand. It was sweet really. But she dreaded the day that she would have to tell him that she didn’t see their relationship lasting. It would break his heart.

Was she even allowed to be in a relationship with a coworker? Was he even a coworker? She had worked jobs before where they specifically say you can’t be in a relationship with a coworker. But no one said anything about that for this project. Then again, it was just a temporary project.

The next time they took a walk together, Link gave her his jacket. It was slightly too big for her, but she never wanted to take it off. It was soft and warm and comforting. She would say that it smelled like him, except he didn’t really have much of a smell (which was usually a plus as far as boys are concerned).

“I think that’s a tradition for children, giving your girlfriend your jacket,” Zelda announced. This was the first time either of them had said words like boyfriend or girlfriend. Zelda looked at him nervously to see how he would react. He smiled.

“Well we’d better take a picture of this momentous occasion then,” he took out a camera. Zelda smiled back at him as he took a snapshot. She was his girlfriend!

He kissed her again. It still felt incredibly awkward. Was she doing something wrong or was kissing just weird? Link had more experience in this matter, and he seemed to be enjoying himself. Why wasn’t she?


	4. Boundaries

Link always wanted to be around Zelda, always wanted to be touching her. Not in a sexual way or anything, just placing his hand on her shoulders, her waist, her arms. She appreciated the attention, but at a certain point, all of his attention became suffocating.

“Hey, Zelda,” Pipit approached her in one of the few moments she was alone. “Are you okay?”

“What do you mean?” She hadn’t been expecting a question like that.

“Just with you and Link and all. I just know that I wouldn’t like not having any personal space, so I just wanted to make sure that you were okay with everything that’s going on.”

“Oh. Yeah, thanks,” Zelda replied sheepishly.

“Because if you’re not, then you need to let him know. Or I could talk to him if you want.” Pipit offered.

“No, that’s fine. I’ll talk to him.” Zelda knew he was right.

“Hey Link,” she said as her boyfriend appeared at her side.

“Hey, Zelda,” he leaned in for a kiss, but she pulled away.

“Um, can we talk?”

“Oh,” he seemed a bit disappointed. “Sure, what’s up?”

“It’s just,” she began, “I just need a little more space. Personal space. Like, maybe we can just hang out, without all the touching, for today.”

“Oh,” he seemed a bit disheartened. “Do you still want to have lunch with me?”

“Of course, but we can also have lunch with the others. I think they’re a little weirded out by all the PDA. So maybe just not so much of that in public.”

“Okay, sure.” Link smiled in agreement. “Thanks for telling me. And if there’s anything else that makes you feel uncomfortable or anything, please let me know. I know I can get really clingy sometimes, but I don’t want-” he paused for a moment. “I – I really care about you, Zelda. I don’t want you to feel forced into anything that you’re not ready for or not comfortable with.”

She smiled. “How are you so amazing?” she asked, staring at him dumbfounded. She had never met a boy who would talk so openly about his feelings. Actually, she wasn’t sure if she had ever met anyone so caring and honest.

“So, no PDA in public, but what about,” Link hesitated. “what about when we’re alone? What are you okay with when we’re alone?”

Zelda flashed him a smile and took his hand. “We can talk about it later. Let's go get some lunch with the others. I heard they have baked apples today.”

Right now, she just wanted to be part of the group. She wanted to laugh with friends and not have to worry about the new and complicated feelings in her head.


	5. Living in the Moment

“Have you ever heard of the solar cycle?” Link asked Pipit sarcastically after yet another briefing on information they had heard a thousand times before. It was certainly interesting the first time they learned about it, but had quickly turned into a running gag.

“Wait. The sun goes through a cycle?” Pipit joined in on the joke, pretending to be clueless.

“Yeah. It looks like this.” Link took off running and did a cartwheel. Zelda laughed at her boyfriend’s goofiness.

“Wait,” Cawlin asked. “How long is this cycle?”

“I don’t know. Hey Link,” Pipit yelled at his roommate, who was still cartwheeling. “How tall are you?”

Zelda had learned a lot about the 11 year solar cycle and all that stuff, but more than that, she was discovering a lot of new things about herself. How much she loved hugging Link, for example. He felt warm and soft, and just so comforting. When she hugged him, she never wanted to let go.

Link seemed to really like kissing her, because he was always doing that. She was still very confused by all of that. It wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable, just odd. He liked sticking his tongue in her mouth, which just felt like a strange dental examination to her. Not painful or uncomfortable, but not necessarily enjoyable, and she just couldn’t understand why he kept wanting to do it. Maybe she just didn’t like kissing. Maybe she was just so new to it and the experience wasn’t living up to her expectation.

But she knew she could be honest with her boyfriend, so she explained all of this to Link. He seemed a bit disappointed that she wasn’t enjoying the kissing as much as he was, but grateful that she let him know how she felt. He was always extremely honest with her, and while she never lied to him, she was very shy about opening up and sharing her personal feelings.

Link wanted to know everything about her.

“What do you want to do with your life?” Link asked her one day, as they were sitting next to the lake. It was starting to get too cold to swim, so instead they simply watched the reflection of the sunset on the water.

“That’s a big question.” Zelda pondered this. “Um, I’m not entirely sure. I have a couple different ideas though.”

“Name them.” He challenged.

“Well, I like building things. I could go into spaceship design, renewable energy planning, or biomedical devices.”

“Biomedical devices?”

“Yeah, like a robotic arm for people missing one. Or just other stuff to help people with medical conditions.”

He stared at her for a long moment. She wondered what he was thinking.

“That’s exactly what I want to do,” he admitted. And then he kept staring at her wondering how he ever found someone so much like him. She smiled back, but felt like she didn’t really deserve his admiration. She didn’t really do anything special. “Why did you have to be a colonist?”

But he wasn’t asking her. It was as if he was asking the universe itself. Zelda wasn’t sure how to feel about that. She was certainly honored to be so important to him, but she didn’t feel like she deserved that. She was just a (fairly) normal person. There wasn’t anything extraordinary about her. She dreaded breaking his heart when she had to return, but there was something oddly beautiful about their doomed romance. Everything that happened had to happen now. There was a great deal of freedom in just living in the moment.

“Why did you have to be a colonist,” he muttered again, looking away from her to stare out at the colors on the water.

Looking back, Link always said that this was a moment that he could feel himself falling for her. He always seemed to feel everything much sooner than she did.


	6. Never have I ever

One Friday night, a group of them sat in Pipit and Link’s room. They were drinking alcohol and playing a game called Never Have I Ever. The rules were simple. One person confessed a thing they’d never done, and whoever had done it had to drink. It quickly became clear to Zelda that there were plenty of things she’d never done, but she wasn’t sure if that meant she was winning or losing.

“Never have I ever had sex in a spaceship,” Orielle announced. The confessions didn’t necessarily have to be sexual in nature, but that seemed to be the way this game was going.

“Wait, how are we defining sex?” Peatrice asked for clarification. “Like I’m gay, so there’s not a whole lot of penis in vagina action in my sex life. But different people define sex different ways.”

“Fingering, dildos, oral, or whatever else makes you cum.” Pipit decided. Peatrice drank. So did Pipit. And so did Link.

“Never have I ever smoked a cigarette,” Zelda admitted, breaking the trend of sexual confessions. She could have also said that she had never had sex, but that wasn’t something she felt comfortable admitting in front of a room full of people.

Link took another sip of his drink, along with many others.

“I’ve tried it once, but I didn’t like it.” Link clarified to his girlfriend, who was pleased to hear that Link was not a smoker. She hated the smell of smoke.

“Never have I ever had a one night stand,” Link announced to the others. A few of them drank.

“Never have I ever had a relationship with my teacher.” Cawlin admitted.

Orielle sheepishly took a sip.

“Wait,” Strich exclaimed. “You know the rules. If you’re the only one, you have to tell the story.”

Orielle sighed. “Fine. It was when I was a teenager or so. I was learning shield surf. I don’t know. He was a few years older. I liked him. After my lessons were over, I invited him to get some food.”

“Did you sleep with him?” Strich asked.

“No, it was just a date.”

“But you kissed him”

“Well, yeah.” She said, as if there wasn’t any other way to end a date. Zelda felt a bit self-conscious.

“Never have I ever been cheated on,” Groose admitted proudly.

Link took a solemn chug of his drink, along with a few others. Zelda supposed that not having done anything had its advantages in some cases. There were some things she didn’t ever want to experience.

“Never have I ever been to Mars.” Karane said.

“Okay, feeling a little targeted here,” Pipit remarked as he took a gulp of his drink. The other colonists, Peatrice, Fledge, and Cawlin, also drank. Zelda finally took her first sip. And gagged. Alcohol tastes disgusting, she decided.

Link laughed. “Here, I’ll make you a new one.”

He went to the kitchenette and came back with a glass of a yellow liquid.

“There’s a teeny bit of beer, but it’s mostly lemonade,” Link whispered to her, exchanging the new drink for the one she had gagged on. “I’ll drink your old one.”

Zelda tried her drink. It did indeed taste like lemonade. She smiled back at him. “Thanks.”

“Never have I ever kissed someone of the opposite sex,” Peatrice announced, grinning proudly as nearly everyone drank. Only Fledge stared at his cup, slightly embarrassed.

“Want to change that?” a somewhat drunk Groose asked Peatrice.

“Um, did you not hear me say I’m gay earlier?” Peatrice raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Oh. Well maybe Fledgey wants a kiss.” Groose leaned towards Fledge, making kissy lips.

“No thanks,” Fledge mumbled. “But that wouldn’t change my answer to the question. I’m a boy, so it would have to be girl kissing me.”

“How do you know you’re gay?” Groose asked Peatrice, slurring his words a bit. Peatrice decided to humor him rather than give a serious answer. She held up her hand.

“See how my index finger is shorter than my ring finger? That means I like girls. If my index finger was longer, I’d like boys.”

Groose stared at her fingers. Then he looked at his own. “Hey, mine’s shorter too.” He gasped, his eyes growing wide as if he had just witnessed a magic trick. “And I like girls too.”

“Mine are the same length,” Zelda whispered to Link. “Maybe that’s because I’m bi.” This was something she had only recently begun to be open about. But she knew Link wouldn’t care. Not only because he didn’t have a homophobic bone in his body, but also because he cared about her so much that he would accept her regardless of what she said.

“I’m bi too,” Link admitted to her. She hadn’t expected that answer. “I never really told my family, but they wouldn’t care. I don’t know, it just never came up because I never dated any boys. And I’m always afraid my guy friends might just be more awkward around me if they knew. But if anyone asked, I’d tell them. It just isn’t really relevant most of the time.”

“Hey, whose turn is it?” Strich asked.

“Mine,” Fledge announced in a quiet voice. “Um… never have I ever eaten an entire raw potato.” Everyone stared at him. No one drank.

“Why… why would you do that?” Pipit asked confused.

“I just said I didn’t.”

“But you’re supposed to say stuff that other people probably have done.”

“Well maybe one of you guy have-” everyone shook their heads. “Okay, um, I’ve never run a marathon?”

Link drank. Fledge breathed a sigh of relief.

“I did a lot of crazy stuff in my teenage years,” Zelda’s boyfriend told her.

“Never have I ever been so drunk I blacked out,” Pipit announced. Link, Groose, and Cawlin drank.

“Crazy teenage years?” Zelda asked, raising an eyebrow. Link nodded.

And so the night continued.

After the others became disinterested or too drunk to play properly, the game came to a slow end. Link and Zelda sat on the couch talking.

He offered to answer whatever questions she had about his past. She learned about sexual history, past relationships that ended with him getting cheated on, and about his experience as a child coming to terms with his bisexuality.

He was so honest. Zelda had never met anyone who would bare their soul so easily. He wasn’t ashamed to admit anything to her, no matter how personal.

He understood the pain of being cheated on, and he never wanted to put anyone else through that. Zelda suddenly felt angry at whoever had put him through that. She was happy that his past relationships didn’t work out, because otherwise she wouldn’t have him now. But she still couldn’t stand the idea of anyone hurting Link.

Link never had a one night stand, because he simply had never been sexually attracted to strangers without any kind of emotional connection.

Zelda didn’t really have much sexual experience, but that she could relate to. She could look at someone and see that they were attractive, but she never had any desire to kiss anyone she didn’t know well. The strongest crushes she’d had in the past were on some of her closest friends.

He lost his virginity at 14.

Once again, Zelda felt like an inexperienced child. She had at least known what sex was at 14, but she had no interest in it. At the time, it had seemed like a gross and probably painful experience that she wouldn’t have to worry about until she was an adult. And here she was a decade later. An adult. And her feelings hadn’t changed. And she didn’t know why.

“Hey Link,” Zelda spoke shyly, “I don’t know that I, um, that I want to, um, you know”

“Have sex?”

“Yeah, I um, uh-”

Link laughed. “We don’t have to.”

“We don’t?”

“No, of course not. Especially not if you’re not ready for that.” He cupped her cheek in his hand so that she faced him. “Hey,” he whispered. His eyes met hers. A blue green mixture that reminded her of the lake they swum in together. “I’m with you because I like you. You are an amazing person and I love spending time with you. I’m not with you because I want sex from you. And I never want you to feel like you owe me anything. Okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed.

“Like I said, please don’t ever feel pressured to do anything you don’t to do. But anything that you would like to do with me, I’ll probably be open to.” He paused, considering this. “I mean, ask me first, but most likely, I will definitely be comfortable with and interested in whatever you have in mind.”


	7. Can you Feel the Love tonight?

And so Zelda began exploring all the things she wanted to do, and all the things she never realized she wanted to do.

Sometimes she discovered things that she really liked. Once, while watching a movie, Link touched her knee cautiously, and she felt this goosebump tingly feeling in her entire thigh. It was like nothing she had ever felt before. Like tickling, but enjoyable. She tried touching her own knee, but nothing happened. Her body seemed to react to his touch in ways that she didn’t understand, but she knew she liked it.

She learned to guide his hands over her legs. He was overjoyed, not that he was allowed to touch her, but that she wanted him to, that she was enjoying his touch.

He left soft kisses along the nape of her neck and she practically melted into his lap. It was like he knew cheat codes for her body that she had never known about. It was definitely enjoyable and exciting, but she also felt somewhat uneasy that knew things about her body that she didn’t. But they were also just discovering together what she liked.

She tried soft slow kisses on his lips and found that she liked that much better. Again, Link was thrilled to find out what she liked. He was always asking her what she wanted, if it was okay if he tried this, what she felt about that. It wasn’t just that he was asking permission for what he wanted to do, but that he also wanted to figure out what she wanted to do. She really appreciated that, and she always told him whatever was on her mind, but the problem was, everything was so new and unusual that her mind was spinning simply trying to process what was happening. There were definitely things that were nice, and things that weren’t, but there were also things somewhere in between. Things that were interesting, but not necessarily in a good or bad way.

When he asked her how she felt, she often told him simply that she didn’t know. That she would need time to process. He may not have understood her answer (what he liked had always been so clear to him), but he respected it. Anything that she told him, no matter how absurd, he believed her. He assured her that it was perfectly normal to be confused, and that she should never do anything that she doesn’t want to do. That he just wants to make sure that she never feels uncomfortable with what’s happening. She again told him that if she was uncomfortable, she would let him know, and in this case, _I don’t know_ really did mean _I don’t know._

She decided that she liked seeing him shirtless. Not that she hadn’t seen him shirtless before, when they were swimming. She had also liked it then, she decided.

“ _You_ can take my shirt off too, if you want,” Link offered. Zelda nervously pulled his shirt over his head. He lifted his arms up to help her, reminding her of a small child who needed help getting dressed.

She placed a hand hovering over his chest, nervously. She hesitated, checking his eyes for permission.

“You can also touch me if you want,” Link chuckled at her shyness. She placed her hand softly on his chest. His skin felt so warm and soft. She ran her palm over his breast. There was something about the flatness that intrigued her, reminded her of how her chest used to be and no longer was. But it was also different. Larger and more muscular than her own prepubescent chest. But not super muscular. Really muscular manly men had always intimidated Zelda. Link wasn’t like that. His body was slimer and softer. She found him absolutely beautiful, and she told him this. He argued that she was.

Zelda knew that traditionally attractive masculine traits included being very tall, muscular, with facial and chest hair and a deep voice, but she had never understood why other women found those traits attractive. She never did. In her younger years, she had wondered if this meant that she was simply more attracted to women, but then she decided that some boys were cute too.

And Link was more than just cute. He was caring and funny and honest. Everything about him was simply perfect. She told him this also. And he again argued that she was.

She didn’t understand how someone so perfect for her could exist.

Around the others, they mostly just held hands and sat close during card games. Of course, there was no end to the teasing and choruses of “Can you feel the love tonight,” but it didn’t matter. This was the happiest Zelda had ever been.

Then something else happened. Pipit and Karane started making eyes at each other too. They weren’t quite so public as Link and Zelda, but there was something going on between the two of them. Of course, when Pipit started giving Karane piggy back rides, it quickly escalated to a couples’ chicken fight. Running around laughing and trying to kick the other.

Zelda liked doing couples activities with them. It was something she had never experienced before, and she didn’t know how to describe it. It was almost as if she and Link were somehow becoming the same person. When she was alone with him, she just felt so comfortable, like she was alone with herself. And it was exciting to share that with another couple experiencing similar things. That’s not to say that their relationships were progressing at the same rate. Karane had already snuck into Pipit’s bed a few nights, whereas Zelda was still a bit unsure if she was ready for something like that. But Link and Zelda also spent a lot of their daytime together, whereas Karane and Pipit preferred to give each other more space.


	8. New Roommate

Zelda rubbed her neck as she sat down for breakfast.

“My neck hurts. I think I slept weird last night,” she told Link.

“Want me to massage it?” He offered.

“Sure, if you don’t mind.” He placed his fingers on her neck.

“Oh wow,” she remarked. He actually was quite good at it.

Link chuckled. “I injure myself a lot, so I’ve gotten pretty good at massages.”

“Good with your hands, huh?” Karane remarked. “Zelda’s a lucky girl.” She winked at the two of them. Zelda felt like that was probably an inuendo to something, but she wasn’t quite sure how to respond.

Link grinned back at Karane. “Is your boyfriend not?” he asked, quick witted as ever.

“Well…” Karane paused, pretending to ponder the question.

“Hey!” Pipit exclaimed, pretending to be offended.

“I’m just kidding, Pipit.” Karane assured him. She turned back to Zelda. “Hey, I forgot my jacket in our room. Do you have the key?”

“Uh, yeah,” Zelda was about to just hand over her key, but Karane grabbed her hand and pulled her in the direction of the hallway. Apparently, they were going together.

Once they reached their room, Karane spoke up.

“So, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“What’s up?” Zelda asked.

“So, it’s just that, well, our boyfriends are roommates, and Pipit and I were thinking that maybe, it might be cool if, me and Link could switch rooms?”

“Oh, umm…”

“What do you think of the idea?” Karane asked, putting her jacket on.

“I don’t know.”

“Because you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Karane reassured. “I just thought you might like to.”

“No, I uh I think I want to, but I don’t know. I mean, what if I change my mind in the future and I’m not comfortable with it? Or what if we are fighting or break up or something? Like, I like spending time with him, but I don’t want to feel like I’m forced to room with him because he doesn’t have anywhere else to go.”

“No, that makes sense,” Karane puzzled over this.

When they returned to the mess hall, instead of returning to their table with Pipit and Link, Karane went over to talk to a table with Peatrice, Cawlin, and some of the other boys.

Zelda wandered over to the fruit section and picked up another bowl. As she was filling her bowl with wildberries, Karane came back.

“Okay, what about this?” Karane asked. “Cawlin has an extra bunk in his room. So Link can move in with him, and then sleep in your room occasionally, if you want.”

That would be perfect. Zelda decided. So Link moved in. Initially, Zelda hadn’t intended Link to spend every night with her. Just occasionally, when she wanted to. She was still afraid her affection for him might somehow wear off. But as time went on, she started to realize that the opposite was true. And she never had a night where she didn’t want him with her.

The neck and shoulder massages continued, only this time lying down on her bed.

She discovered many other things she liked to do on her bed with Link. Cuddling, for example.

Cuddling was the absolute most amazing thing ever invented! It was like hugging, but while laying down. Somehow the most comfortable feeling had become even more cozy, and they would spend hours just lying there, sharing their favorite music and podcasts with one another, talking about their past experiences and plans for the future, hypothesizing alternate realities, and making bad puns. Just enjoying each other’s company, listening to the sound of each other’s heartbeats.

She also found that when he ran his fingertips along her legs and sides, places that were once ticklish, tingled with excitement, and all she wanted to do was kiss him. Kissing started to feel much nicer. She still wasn’t too fond of a lot of tongue in her mouth, but she liked the soft kisses, and just lightly sucking on his lips.

She decided that there wasn’t necessarily that there was a wrong or right way to kiss. Just that different things felt better to different people, and that you can find out what works best for you over time. She figured that becoming more comfortable around Link also helped. Even if they hadn’t been in a relationship, she still would have wanted to spend her free moments with him. He was a cute boy who liked her, but he was also her best friend. They understood each other.


	9. And sometimes they were very sad

Zelda started crying at the thought of having to return to Mars.

"Hey, hey," Link asked, taking her into his arms. "What's wrong?"

"I" Zelda tried to get words out but only sobbed. "I-I d-don't w-want this t-to end."

"Hey," Link petted her hair, still hugging her tightly. "It won't."

"But i-it will," Zelda argued.

"Hey, it doesn't have to. We might be physically separated for a little bit, but I'll call you every day, and I'll come visit you. See, I got to show you Earth, and you can show me Mars."

"I'm gonna miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too, but right now, I'm still here. We don't need to worry about the future just yet."

"Are you really going to call me every day?" Zelda asked, pulling away slightly so she could look him in the eyes.

"Well how else are we supposed to hypothesize alternate realities? Hmm? I'm not telepathic." Link paused. "Not in this reality at least."

"And you'll visit me?"

"Are you kidding? I've always wanted to see Mars! And visiting my girlfriend is a great excuse."

That's just how Link was. Every time she cried, Link would just take her into his arms, comforting her until she felt better. Most of the time, she cried dreading the day she would have to leave Earth. But sometimes she cried for no reason at all.

Before she met Link, she rarely cried. Something about being so emotionally vulnerable had opened up something inside her, and all of the feelings she normally repressed came flooding out. Luckily Link didn't seem to mind. He just held her and told her it was perfectly okay to cry, even if she didn't know why she was crying, and that she could cry for as long as she wanted. He was so patient, and his presence was just so calm and compassionate.

Zelda didn't understand how she could become so attached to someone so quickly. A month ago, Link was a stranger. And now he was the most important person in her life.

All these new emotions confused her. It reminded her of going through puberty, when all these uncomfortable changes started happening to her body, and she felt like it wasn't her body anymore, not the one she knew.

Over the years, she had learned to accept the breasts that she had once wished would simply vanish as quickly as they appeared. Removing uncomfortable body hair seemed like less of a chore, now that she had done it so often. There was something oddly satisfying about the smooth skin left behind. She still despised the blood and pain from her uterus (and who doesn't?), but it was no longer as terrifying as it had once been. But even her periods had never made her this emotional. She hadn't cried this much since she was a small child.

But her body and mind were going through a different change this time. There was no external reaction this time. And the emotions she felt for Link weren't something she wanted to just throw away. Link made her so insanely happy.

But with each new unfamiliar feeling, she also just felt so confused, like everything she thought she knew about herself was wrong. It was definitely exciting, but it was also scary and confusing. She wondered what else she had yet to discover.


	10. Active Cuddling

One day while Link was giving Zelda a massage in their room, she dared herself to take it a step further.

“Okay, I’m going to make it a little easier for you,” she explained, slowly removing her shirt and lying facedown on her bed, “but don’t go crazy.” She tried to make her words sound confident and coy, but felt very nervous.

His eyes widened, and reached down to touch her bare shoulders. Her heart was beating faster at the vulnerability of wearing only a bra on her top half. It’s just like a bathing suit, she told herself, nothing he hasn’t seen before. But it was an important moment, and they both knew that. After he finished massaging her shoulders and neck, she put her shirt back on, thanked him, and kissed him.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” Link admitted, his eyes still wide. “Not that I didn’t enjoy it,” he assured her. “I just wasn’t expecting it.”

Zelda smiled at him. “Me neither,” she admitted, marveling at her own daring.

Tiny steps, she told herself.

After that, it became easier to take off her shirt around him, and she even allowed him to remove her shirt sometimes. He really liked that.

They started sleeping in the same bed. Before, Link had been sleeping in Karane’s old bed. Not that Link didn’t visit Zelda’s bed often, but only when he was specifically invited. He wanted to make sure that Zelda had her own space.

And at first, it was uncomfortable for her to have another person in her space while she slept. She loved cuddling with him, but when she was asleep and someone was touching her, or even just sleeping beside her, her subconscious always jumped straight to intruder alert mode.

It took time for her to slowly get used to it, for her 3am brain to stop seeing Link as a foreign intruder or sleep demon. But eventually she started to see him as an extension of herself.

Zelda started to get just as clingy as Link had in their first week of dating. Which wasn’t a problem, because Link was into that. They were inseparable, and neither could be happier about that.

Not to say that people have to be clingy to be in love or to be in a relationship. Pipit and Karane were also very happy together, but neither of them were all that clingy. They both enjoyed each other’s company, but also liked their own space. Zelda decided that was the best way for relationships to work out, both partners having equal levels of clinginess. Otherwise the clingy partner would feel lonely and the non-clingy partner would feel suffocated.

Over time, Link’s and Zelda’s cuddling sessions became much less passive. ‘Active Cuddling’ Link called it. Kisses, caresses, pressing skin against skin. When his fingertips traced over her spine, she felt her entire body tense up and she gasped.

“Wow,” Link breathed in astonishment. “I didn’t realize that was so sensitive for you.”

“Me neither.”

He did it again.

Eventually, she even decided to take the bra off too. Their bottom halves were still clothed. She still felt uncomfortable with that, and he was uncomfortable with her being uncomfortable.

He had had sex before, so it wasn’t as if this was as new and confusing as it was for her. He just wanted to care for her and excite her in whatever way he could. If she was comfortable with taking off more of her clothes, then he was all the more thrilled, but he never wanted to pressure her into anything, and he explained that he just wanted her to feel comfortable.

She was always honest with him about what she was okay with and what she wasn’t okay with. Through a lot of small steps, her boundaries were changing.

Of course, her boundaries were far different than those of others. For some, what she had done with Link might seem like nothing, but the steps they had taken in their relationship were monumental for her. Perhaps this wouldn’t have happened so quickly if their time together hadn’t been so limited. She certainly wouldn’t have the courage to flirt with him so much at the beginning if he had been a colony member whom she would have to awkwardly see every day if it didn’t work out. And now that she was so attached to him, she knew that the time she would spend with him in person would soon be over, so anything physical that she wanted to do with him, now would be the time. 

During one of their more passive cuddling sessions, she rested her head on his chest, and he started to speak. He sounded nervous and she didn’t know what to make of that.

“Hey, ummm… I… um… I want to tell you something,” he managed to get out. “I don’t know how you’re going to react though.”

Zelda stared up at him. This was so unlike him. Link always seemed so sure of himself. The nervousness and uncertainty, that was her thing.

“It’s okay,” she reassured him. It was interesting, being the one supporting him for a change, and she sorta liked it. “You can tell me anything.”

“I love you,” he breathed. She froze, and then broke out into a smile. That was the first time anyone had ever said that to her in a romantic context.

“Thank you for telling me that. I don’t know if…”

“You don’t have to say it back,” he reassured her. “I just wanted you to know that. Is it… is it okay that I said that?” He still seemed so nervous.

“I’m really happy that you said that,” she reassured him. “I just don’t want to say it back until I really mean it. Not just as a reflex or a mindless response, but when I really really mean it. Not that I don’t like you. I like you a lot. My head’s just so confused and I need some time to process everything.”

“Sure,” he grinned, happy that she didn’t seem weirded out by his confession. “I’ve been wanting to tell you that for a long time.”


End file.
